Tuesday, April 2, 2013
Sulu sultan seeks CBCP help to resolve Sabah crisis
MANILA, Philippines - Outraged over the government’s handling of the ongoing Sabah standoff, the Sultanate of Sulu on Monday asked the support of Catholic bishops to resolve the crisis.
Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram III met with Archbishop Jose Palma, president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), wherein he raised their concerns over the territorial dispute and the alleged human rights abuses committed by the Malaysian government against Filipinos in Sabah.
The meeting, which lasted for almost half an hour was arranged by the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC) and the Gausbaug Coalition for Peace and Humanitarian Resolution of Sabah.
Palma first met with Kiram and his party at his office in Intramuros, Manila before leaving for Rome Monday evening to attend the International Eucharistic Congress.
The Sultan was accompanied by his daughter Princess Jaycel Kiram, the Sultanate’s spokesperson Abraham Idjirani, Pastor “Boy” Saycon and lawyer Dante Jimenez.
In relation to the issue of rights abuses, the group said they will provide the CBCP with a video showing how the Malaysian authorities maltreated the Filipinos.
“We have videos from some deportees from Sabah and we’ll hand this copy to the CBCP on Wednesday through Mr. Jimenez showing the abuses against Filipinos in Sabah before they were killed,” Princess Jaycel said.
“We went here to personally thank the Bishop and also to show the Muslim-Christian solidarity in the Philippines … there are also Christians in Sabah,” she said.
Palma assured Kiram that he will bring the matter of the Sabah crisis not just to the CBCP Permanent Council but even to the Vatican.
“Of course they were hoping that I’m able to find a way as a bishop but I haven’t promised really much except that I will seek the advice of people who I believe can help in this situation,” Palma said.
“At the moment, I have no particular person in mind. I believe there are agencies in Rome that can be of service in this regard,” he added.
The CBCP leader said the situation in Sabah was not about religion anymore but about the search for peace and harmony.
“Basically it’s like brothers going to brothers and say there is a bond between us and that’s the bond that unites people who search for peace,” said Palma.
“As we say, there is a Christian and Muslim way of searching for peace especially of course in the situation of Sabah,” he added.
Jimenez described the archbishop’s trip to the Vatican as “very timely”.
“He is attending a very timely meeting where he promised to bring this matter to any council in Rome especially to the attention of the new pope (Francis),” he said.
“In fact, I didn’t know that he is going to Rome. Jaycel here is saying it must have been divine providence intervening now and I agree with that,” Jimenez said.
Saycon, adviser of the Sulu Sultan, said: “We at least expect a global appeal for peace. The sultanate also wants peace. What it really wants to do is sit down and talk. So why is it so hard for these people to understand that dialogue is better than war.”
“From the very beginning, that is just our appeal that we only want dialogue with them. For both the Malaysian and Philippine government if they really want this issue to be resolved, prove it,” said Jaycel.
On February 12, Raja Muda Agbimuddin Kiram and a group of about 200 people, some of them reportedly armed, holed up at the Lahad Datu district in Sabah in a bid to reclaim what they said rightfully belonged to the Sultanate of Sulu.
President Benigno Aquino III has condemned the actions of the Kiram group and has asked that they leave Sabah immediately.
The government also warned that they will file charges against Kiram’s followers for illegal possession of firearms and inciting to war.
Malaysian authorities have since conducted a series of attacks, resulting in several deaths among Kiram’s followers and have charged some of the 100 currently in police custody.
Kiram kinsmen fear persecution by KL
By Ferdinand Fabella
Manila Standard Today
THE relatives of Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram III in Sabah are now living in fear because of the continuing crackdown by Malaysian forces, the sultanate said on Sunday.
Abraham Idjirani, the sultanate’s spokesman, said many relatives of Kiram had actually gone into hiding and could not return to Mindanao because Malaysian security forces were pursuing them.
“Many are still in Sabah and they are now in hiding because they fear for their safety,” Idjirani said from the residence of Kiram in Taguig City.
“Even those who are not members of the Sulu Royal Forces, as long as they have blood relations with the Sultan, are being arrested.”
At least 5,000 Filipinos have fled Sabah after fighting broke out between Kiram’s armed followers and Malaysian armed forces on March 1. The hostilities started when the sultanate sent a 235-men force to the coastal town of Lahad Datu to reassert its historical claim over Sabah.
The contingent was led by the sultan’s brother, Raja Muda Agbimuddin Kiram, who remained in hiding in Sabah.
More than 100 alleged supporters of the Sulu Sultanate have been arrested while more than 400 were charged under the draconian Malaysian’s Security Offenses Act.
Last week, Idjirani said an uncle of Kiram, identified as Ustadz Janjan, was executed by security forces in Sabah shortly after he was arrested.
“He (Janjan) was arrested and killed because he is a relative of the sultan and was accused of masterminding the standoff but in fact he has been living there for a long time,” he added.
Also arrested in Sabah was Kiram’s nephew, Datu Amirbahar Hussin Kiram.
Idjirani said he received a call from Agbimuddin Sunday morning, informing him that clashes continue in Sabah and that many Filipino residents were being arrested.
He said Agbimuddin also told him that Malaysian authorities are targeting Filipinos that came from Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, and Basilan, which are part of the sultanate’s territory.
Agbimuddin, Idjirani said, also reported that there were two groups of Filipinos who recently arrived in Sabah apparently to avenge the harassment and maltreatment committed by Malaysian forces against Filipinos.
“The Malaysian police and military have no respect for Filipinos in Sabah anymore. That’s why they are probably out to take revenge,” Idjirani said.
The country’s ambassador to Malaysia, Eduardo Malaya, said Sunday the government would ensure that the rights of eight Filipinos facing charges for their alleged involvement in the Lahad Datu incursion are respected, and that they have legal representation when court sessions resume on April 12.
Malaya said it was standing policy for the government to provide consular assistance to nationals in distress, whether or not it condones their acts or advocacies.
The assurance was made after a consular team from the Philippine embassy in Kuala Lumpur conferred with the suspects on March 28 at the prison facility in Tawau where they are detained.
The eight who are facing terrorism-related charges were identified as Atik Hussin Bin Abu Bakar, Basad H. Manuel, Habil Bin Suhaili, Holland Bin Kalbi, Thimhar Hadil Suhaili, Lin Bin Mad Salleh, Kadir Bin Uyung and Lating Bin Tiong.
The eight men charged were among more than 100 arrested under Malaysia’s tough security laws. They were charged with “harboring persons committing terrorist acts” and “waging of war” against the country’s king, which is punishable by a life-term imprisonment or death.
The men from Mindanao, aged between 17 and 66, did not enter pleas, reports said.
They were charged in front of a judge, who came to the heavily guarded police station in Lahad Datu town, which is near palm oil estates and coastal villages where security forces were still chasing Agbimuddin’s men.
Malaysian forces launched a military assault on March 5 against the group, sending them fleeing from a farming village where they had been holed up since mid-February.
The crisis, which began last Feb. 12, has embarrassed the Philippines and Malaysia, shining the spotlight on the latter’s porous border and locals’ complaints of rampant illegal immigration and lawlessness. With Macon Araneta
http://manilastandardtoday.com/2013/04/01/kiram-kinsmen-fear-persecution-by-kl/
No work, no pay for solons pushed
By Leila B. Salaverria
Philippine Daily Inquirer
It could be a new twist to the no work, no pay policy.
With absenteeism a perennial problem in Congress, lawmakers who fail to meet the most basic requirement of showing up for work must be fined for their absences, some senatorial aspirants believe.
What is more important, they say, is for voters to choose candidates who will uphold their sworn duties and not allow such problems to happen in the first place.
Senatorial candidate Paolo Benigno Aquino IV of the administration coalition Team PNoy said being a member of the Senate was a serious responsibility and its members were expected, at the minimum, to attend its hearings and sessions.
Failure to do so must entail penalties, such as fines that become higher as the absences worsen, he said during the “Paninindigan” senatorial forum of GMA News, the Inquirer’s election partner. The first portion of the forum was to air last night.
Making people aware
“I am in favor of penalizing those who don’t attend [sessions]. Maybe they should be fined,” Aquino said when asked about the issue of frequent absences.
Aquino added that the issue boiled down to leadership and governance and that voters must choose people who were ready to work and were dedicated to their jobs.
Another senatorial candidate, Teddy Casiño, told the Inquirer that the imposition of fines could work not because the fines would hurt the senators in their pockets (many of them are moneyed anyway) but because it would bring the people’s attention to the problem of absenteeism.
A representative of Bayan Muna party-list group, Casiño is running for senator as an independent.
Gordon: Shame them
Casiño and Aquino said it was important to make public the attendance records of the lawmakers, along with how they spent their priority development assistance funds and operating expenses, so that the people would know what they were doing with those funds and hold them accountable.
“Lawmakers would be more conscious of their duties because the public would be interested in the issue, on who paid large fines,” Casiño said. “The public attention it will generate will make it effective.”
For senatorial candidate Richard Gordon of the United Nationalist Alliance, there are enough rules to hold absentee lawmakers to account and it would be better to perhaps “shame” them for their delinquency.
Gordon stressed that voters should not elect candidates that would not give their all to their sworn duties.
Not popularity alone
“The whole problem is not in imposing fines because by that time, you have elected them,” Gordon said, adding that the real problem was the inability of people to distinguish between “show biz-politics type” candidates and candidates promoting “substance-based” politics.
“That’s the reason for all the absences,”
he said. “People don’t get quality legislation because they elect
poor-quality people based on popularity.”
Gordon said the electorate must learn to be
discerning, especially amid the noise generated by “show biz”
controversies that tend to overshadow the more serious issues facing the
country, such as the power crisis hampering Mindanao’s development and
the conflict in Sabah.
Problem of quorum
Lack of warm bodies has led to the
adjournment of sessions in Congress. The result is that crucial
legislation has been delayed or has died from inaction.
Casiño said the House leadership had to
resort at times to sending text messages to lawmakers so that there
would be sufficient quorum to proceed with the session.
He said there had also been instances where
the leadership would release allowances or special allotments to make
sure the lawmakers would attend the sessions.
Monday, April 1, 2013
A New World Disorder
PerryScopeBy Perry Diaz
The collapse of the Soviet Empire in 1991 catapulted the United States as the only superpower on Earth. It ushered in a new age — Pax Americana — with the balance of power securely ensured by the United States encircling what is left of the once-mighty Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), the Russian Federation.
But don’t be fooled by the demise of the communist regime. Russia, with 6.6 million square miles of land area covering more than one-eight of the world’s inhabited land area. In 2012, Russia was the world’s sixth largest economy with a GDP of $2.22 trillion, behind the U.S. (first-ranked at $16.66 trillion), China ($10.09 trillion), Japan ($4.31 trillion), India ($4.06 trillion), and Germany ($2.94 trillion).
Endowed with rich natural resources, Russia has the world’s largest reserves of natural gas, second-largest reserves of coal, and the eight-largest reserves of crude oil. In 2011, she became the world’s largest producer of oil, surpassing Saudi Arabia; and the second-largest producer of natural gas. And she possesses the largest stockpile of weapons of mass destruction.
With the election of Vladimir Putin to the presidency in May 2012 for the second time around — he served as President for two terms (from 2000 to 2008) but was constitutionally prohibited to serve a third consecutive term — there are high expectations that Putin would take Russia on the high road to economic progress and propel the country on a trajectory that would regain her share of dominance — if not total dominance– of world geopolitics.
Enter the Dragon
On March 14, 2013, China’s rubberstamp national legislature elected Xi Jinping to the ceremonial title of president, which capped his rise to the pinnacle of power as China’s undisputed ruler. Last November, Xi was named Secretary General of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and Chairman of the powerful Central Military Commission (CMC), which controls the CPC’s military arm, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). As the country’s de facto armed forces, the PLA has an active membership of 2.25 million, which makes it the world’s largest standing army. Never before since the time of Mao Zedong had a Chinese ruler consolidated his power within a short time– four months!
Upon his ascension to the presidency, Xi’s first venture outside China was to visit his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. At their summit in Kremlin last March 22, the two leaders agreed to form a “strategic partnership” to advance their countries’ interests. They affirmed their mutual support for each country’s geostrategic and territorial interests, which include territorial disputes. With more than 20 territorial disputes that China is embroiled with various countries — including Japan, Philippines, India, Malaysia, Taiwan, Vietnam — this could put Russia squarely on the paths of conflict, which could involve the United States who has mutual defense treaties with at least four of China’s adversaries.
“Sweetheart deal”
Signing 30 agreements in the areas of energy, trade, technology, and military exchange, the highlight of Xi’s visit was a rare glimpse into Russia’s defense command headquarters — or “war room” — a first by any foreign leader. Chinese media videotaped the event showing Xi being briefed as he looked at computers and giant screens tracking military intelligence targets.
On the economic front, the new China-Russia strategic partnership would bind the two countries in jointly developing Russia’s most strategic economic resources — oil, gas, and coal — to meet China’s massive current and future energy requirements.
One of the summit’s immediate results was an agreement for Russia to triple her oil supplies to China in exchange for a $2-billion loan. In addition, the two countries agreed on a preliminary deal to build a gas pipeline. Indeed, with Russia as one of the world’s largest energy producers and China the world’s number one energy consumer, one can say that Xi got a “sweetheart deal” he couldn’t resist.
At a joint press conference, Xi told the media: “China’s friendship with Russia guarantees strategic balance and peace in the world.” But what he presumably meant to say was that the new China-Russia military-economic alliance would be so formidable that it would establish a new world order never seen before. In Xi’s mind, only a China-Russia military-economic alliance could stop the United States’ “pivot to Asia” strategy. And one of Xi’s concerns was the United States’ building of an intercontinental ballistic missile defense system, which could tilt the balance of power towards the U.S.
Kim goes ballistic
But when Kim Jong-Un, North Korea’s young– and untested — leader, went ballistic, it rattled everybody! His scrapping of the 1953 Korean War Armistice and testing of a missile capable of delivering a nuclear warhead have prompted the U.S. to reassess her missile shield system against North Korea.
Last March 15, Department of Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel announced that the U.S. will spend $1 billion to add 14 interceptors to the current 30 interceptors that are already based in Alaska. In addition, he said that the U.S. is planning to deploy an additional radar system in Japan, a move that would provide an “improved early warning and tracking of any missile launch from North Korea at the U.S. or Japan.”
Encirclement
It is interesting to note that in January 2010, it was reported in the news that the U.S. had completed the transfer of a $6.4-billion weapons deal with Taiwan that included 200 advanced Patriot anti-ballistic missiles. It was also reported earlier that month that the U.S. had provided Taiwan with eight frigates equipped with the Aegis Combat System, which has the capacity to launch ship-based interceptor missiles.
That completed the deployment of the Aegis component of the U.S. interceptor missile system in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and Australia. In addition, Taiwan has already a network of 22 missile sites around the country… ready to go!
And that made China nervous… very nervous. The government-owned China Daily reported in its February 22, 2010, that China and Russia are encircled by chain of U.S. anti-missile systems with a footprint that extends from Japan to South Korea to Taiwan. As one Chinese military strategist explained: Washington has deployed a ring of anti-missile systems around China’s periphery forming a crescent-shaped encirclement that begins in Japan, stretches through nations in the South China Sea to India, and ends in Afghanistan.
In addition to the Aegis Combat System and batteries of Patriot anti-ballistic missiles, the U.S. had moved a squadron of 12 B-52 nuclear-armed bombers and two squadrons of the advanced F-22 Raptor stealth jet fighters to Anderson Air Force Base in Guam. And at least three nuclear attack submarines are also deployed in Guam, which is beyond the range of China’s land-based Dong Feng 21D anti-ship ballistic missile.
With the U.S.S. George Washington nuclear-powered super carrier battle group forward-deployed in Yokosuka, Japan, the U.S. provides an awesome array of state-of-the-art defensive armaments that would keep North Korea, China or Russia from toying with the notion of attacking the U.S. or any of her allies in the Asia-Pacific.
Conspicuously missing from the United States’ military defense network is the Philippines, who was once identified as a “major non-NATO ally” of the U.S. Other than the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) and the untested Mutual Defense Treaty between the two countries, the Philippines has no role in the “Air-Sea Battle” plan of the U.S. in Asia-Pacific.
Pax Pacifica
Be that as it may, what we’re seeing here is a geostrategic shift from a “one world power” — Pax Americana — to a “strategic partnership” of countries with common interests that is centered in the vast Pacific. With more than 130 countries forming the rim of the Pacific, the age of Pax Pacifica is about to begin. And who would be the dominant force who would chart the destiny of Pax Pacifica — China or the United States?
At the end of the day, one might say that Pax Pacifica could usher in a world of new order… or disorder?
North Korean leader may attack to save face, says US congressman
WASHINGTON DC - With North Korea churning out military threats, a key concern is that its young leader Kim Jong-un may reach a point of no return in provocative steps, a US congressman said Sunday.
Rep. Peter King (R-NY), former chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, said North Korea's statements may not be an "empty threat."
"Kim Jong-un is trying to establish himself. He's trying to be the tough guy. He is 28, 29 years old, and he keeps going further and further out, and I don't know if he can get himself back in," he said in an interview with ABC News.
"So my concern would be that he may feel to save face he has to launch some sort of attack on South Korea, or some base in the Pacific," said King, who now sits on the House intelligence and homeland security committees.
He described the North Korean regime as "more like an organized crime family running a territory."
North Korea has ratcheted up its threats to launch nuclear attacks on the US and stage a war against South Korea. It also warned that it could shut down the inter-Korean industrial complex in Kaesong, just north of the border of the two sides.
The US has responded with related calls for Pyongyang to calm down and by showing off its available firepower.
Pentagon action
The Pentagon dispatched Japan-based F-22 Raptor stealth fighters for the ongoing South Korea-US joint military drills after sending B-52 Stratofortress and B-2 Spirit bombers, both of which are capable of carrying nuclear bombs, to the Korean Peninsula.
Pentagon officials said such sorties are aimed at preventing North Korea from making a miscalculation.
"We have guarded against miscalculation on the Korean Peninsula for over 60 years," Pentagon press secretary George Little told CNN. "We hope to avoid miscalculation. We think we can. The North Koreans simply need to dial the temperature down."
Some Korea watchers in Washington say Pyongyang is unlikely to immediately translate its threats into actions.
"Regarding the latest news from Pyongyang, it looks like the voice of reason is finally beginning to prevail over blind fears and hurt pride, and the North Korean leadership is beginning to step back from the brink," Alexandre Mansourov, a US expert who has followed North Korea issues for a long time, said.
He cited a meeting of the central committee of the ruling Workers' Party, chaired by Kim Jong-un, on Sunday (local time).
Instead of issuing more direct threats in the session, the North set a new strategic course of "parallel economic construction and nuclear weapons development on the basis of self-reliance," according to its state media.
Good news, bad news
"This is both good news and bad news," Mansourov said. "This is good news because it means the North Korean leadership is probably not contemplating a military attack against the ROK (South Korea) and US in the immediate future."
But the bad news is that it may also mean the North Koreans will probably not negotiate any nuclear deals, including any nuclear freezes or nuclear test moratoriums, he said.
He noted the election of former Prime Minister Pak Pong-ju, known to be relatively reform-minded, as a full member of the Politburo, saying it might signal the North Korean leader's continued interest in economic experimentation.
Larry Niksch, the senior associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), said Pyongyang's recent vitriolic rhetoric may be intended to distract the US from its immediate objective of developing a nuclear warhead for its intermediate range Nodong missile.
"North Korea is good at propaganda disinformation, and it seems to be working," he said. "Developing a nuclear warhead for the Nodong means developing a warhead for Iran's Shahab-3 missile, which is a replica of the Nodong."
By distracting US officials from the Nodong warhead priority, Niksch argued, North Korea also distracts the U.S. from paying attention to Iran's role in its weapons of massive destruction programs.
North Korea knows that development of a long-range missile and a nuclear warhead capable of reaching the mainland US will take several years to accomplish, he added.
PH embassy team meets 8 Filipinos detained for Sabah standoff
InterAksyon.com
The online news portal of TV5
The online news portal of TV5
KUALA LUMPUR – A consular team from the Philippine Embassy visited and conferred Thursday with the eight detained Filipinos in Sabah facing charges for their alleged involvement in the Lahad Datu stand-off, and then clashes, between Malaysian security forces and hundreds of followers of the Sulu Sultanate.
The Embassy team, led by First Secretary and Consul Antonina Mendoza-Oblena and Director Renato Villa, talked to the eight individuals at the prison facility in Tawau and inquired about their conditions. They also asked about the places of origin and respective families of the accused, some of whom face charges that could carry the death penalty.
The eight men facing criminal charges were identified by the Embassy as: Atik Hussin Bin Abu Bakar, Basad H. Manuel, Habil Bin Suhaili, Holland Bin Kalbi, Thimhar Hadil Suhaili, Lin Bin Mad Salleh, Kadir Bin Uyung and Lating Bin Tiong.
"It is a standing policy for the Philippine Government to provide appropriate consular assistance to nationals in distress, whether or not we agree with their acts or advocacies,” Ambassador J. Eduardo Malaya said. “We would like to ensure that their rights as accused are respected and that they have legal representation when court sessions resume on April 12, as promised by Malaysian authorities.”
The consular jail visit was conducted after arrangements were made with the Malaysian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Attorney General’s Chambers and Tawau prison officials.
No other details were made available due to the sensitivity of the cases, the embassy said.
The Embassy said it may find difficulty in extending consular assistance to Raja Muda Agbimuddin, the younger brother of Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram III, in light of revelations that he had “acquired” Malaysian citizenship. There are conflicting reports also as to the whereabouts of the man said to have led over 200 followers of the Sulu sultanate in reclaiming their “homeland” of Sabah, which Malaysia got from the British government when its federation was created, but remains subject of a claim by the sultanate, to which Malaysia pays annual rental payments.
In an interview with reporters on March 23, Malaysian Defense Minister Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi earlier confirmed that Agbimuddin is a Malaysian citizen who worked as a civil servant in Sabah. He said that Agbimuddin was an assistant district officer in Kudat under the administration of former Sabah Chief Minister Tun Datu Mustapha Datu Harun.
Mindanao outages worsen
By Christine F. Herrera, Manila Standard Today
8-hour daily blackouts hit; solons press for solution
THE 52-strong Mindanao Legislators’ Committee on Sunday said Mindanaoans had been using electric fans instead of air conditioning units and had shifted to energy-efficient bulbs to conserve energy but the eight-hour blackouts were continuing daily.
They urged President Benigno Aquino III to establish a power commission to stop the power crisis in Mindanao. They said Mindanao had a power shortfall of 294 megawatts as the demand there stood at 1,157 megawatts but the power supply was only 863 megawatts.
House Deputy Speaker and Zamboanga City Rep. Maria Isabelle Climaco said Zamboanga City was at the tail end of the power distribution and that strict implementation of extraction was needed.
She proposed the creation of a Mindanao Power Corporation so that hydro-complexes would be self-sufficient without waiting for the national government to come to its aid.
“In March, the power demand of Zamboanga City was 79.821 megawatts but the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corporation and Therma Marine Inc. could only provide a combined power of 54 megawatts, bringing the shortage to over 24 megawatts that translate to at least seven to eight hours blackout daily,” Climaco said.
Maguindanao Rep. Simeon Datumanong expressed fears of a power disruption in Mindanao during the May 13 polls.
Datumanong said the immediate solution to the power crisis was to assign power barges or tap private power sources to ensure no disruption of the power supply during the elections.
Reacting to the reports of a looming power rate increase in Mindanao, Datumanong said the government should ensure that consumers were not unduly burdened of any such rate increase.
“I think that is inevitable, although the government should try to ensure a reasonable increase so that it will not be very heavy for the poor people,” Datumanong said.
The Energy Regulatory Commission earlier said that if the government decided to buy generator sets to augment the power supply in Mindanao, distribution utilities and cooperatives would have to file a petition to recover the cost of generators.
“It will never be fun in Mindanao with the Aquino government’s introduction of a high-cost power rate solution to the island’s power crisis,” Bayan Muna Rep. Teddy Casiño said in a speech during the general assembly of the Davao del Norte Electric Cooperative.
He criticized the government proposal to build bunker- and diesel-fed power plants as “a classic solution that punishes the people for mistakes committed by the government.”
The Department of Energy has proposed to raise the electricity rates in Mindanao to P18 per kilowatt hour due to the construction of bunker or diesel-fired plants.
“This proposal is anti-consumer, anti-environment and anti-Mindanao,” Casiño said.
He said the government should consider tapping renewable energy sources that would be “cleaner, more sustainable and cheaper in the long term.”
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